Several new studies being released this week find a relationship between head injuries or brain injuries and dementia or Alzheimers. Two of the studies, release Monday, establish that brain injuries suffered by football players and by soldiers in battle likely boost the risk of dementia later in life.

I think the use of the term “traumatic brain injury” is misleading to the public (and to many attorneys who don’t routinely handle brain injury claims). Calling it a “traumatic brain injury” makes people think that the risk would only exist in the most serious brain injuries. In reality, a diagnosis of concussion, post-concussion syndrome, a skull fracture, or some non-specific head injury are all considered traumatic brain injuries. Thus, attorneys need to be looking out for these potential risks in most of our cases.

The issue is important to our clients. As Dr. Kristine Yaffe, head of the Memory Disorders Program at the San Francisco Veterans Association medical center (and an author of one of the recent studies) said,

This issue is very important because TBI (traumatic brain injury) is very coommon. About 1.7 million people experience a TBI each year in the United States, primarily due to falls and car crashes.

Sadly, we’ve represented a number of people with brain injuries. The injuries not only affect the victims, but also their spouses, children, and other loved ones (in fact, I believe loved ones are often in a better position to help diagnose brain injuries than those actually injured). This is just another factor that we’ll have to take into account when valuing and trying to resolve head injury claims.

If you or a loved one has suffered a head injury in a wreck or other incident, please feel free to call us at (512)476-4944.

For additional information from us on head injuries, click on the links below: